The primary goal of the 5th International Symposium on Hormonal Carcinogenesis (ISHC) is to gather a diverse group of research investigators, epidemiologists, basic scientists and clinicians to address the role of steroid and peptide hormones and growth factors in the causation, dependence, and eventual hormonal resistance of some of the most prevalent cancers afflicting women and men in the USA and world-wide. This ISHC will emphasize cutting edge progress in cancer research linking steroid hormones to: 1) Stem cell research, 2) Over-expression of mitotic kinases, 3) Significance of steroid hormone receptors in the evolution of hormone-dependent to -independent tumors, 4) Role of steroid receptors in solid tumors from non-hormone dependent tissues such as lung and colon, and 5) Development of therapeutic strategies derived from these discoveries. The planned program for this Symposium is well balanced. It includes sessions of primary interest to basic scientists that emphasize the molecular events leading to oncogenesis, hormone dependency and independency, and others of strong clinical relevance to physicians with a sound translational (pre-clinical) component. The prominent group of speakers includes women and under-represented minorities. The 5th ISHC scientific program has been divided into four areas linked to specific issues pertinent to hormonal carcinogenesis and hormonal cancers. Area 1: ETIOLOGY IN RELATION TO HORMONAL CANCERS. a) Cellular origin in adult breast and prostate cancer stem cells, Session 1 and 1st State of the Art presentation. b) Mitotic kinases, amplified centrosomes, and genomic instability in breast, prostate, hematologic malignancies, Session 2 and 3rd State of the Art presentation. c) Steroid receptor interactions, Session 3. Area 2: HORMONE-RELATED CANCER RISK FACTORS. d). Risk assessment, biomarkers, and hormone receptors in breast, ovary, prostate, colorectal, lung, Sessions 4, 7, and 2nd State of the Art presentation. Area 3: PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. e) In relation to breast, prostate, and ovarian cancer, Session 5 and 2nd State of the Art presentation. Area 4: Hormone Dependency and Independency. e) In prostate, breast and uterine cancer, Session 6. As in the past, a book will be published of the presentations. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]